Zentangle Extravaganza!

Zentangle® Extravaganza
Sat., Sept. 10 & Sun., Sept. 11, 2011
Highland Tower Party Room
900 W. Market St. – Highland Square

9 – 9:15 a.m. – Sign in – (register in advance by 9/7 with Carol Bailey Floyd – 330-414-3505) Zentangle experience required for all classes except Tickle Me Pink!

9:15 - 10:15 – Beginning Zentangle instruction (ages 7-107) – Carol Bailey Floyd, CZT $15.

10:30 – 12 p.m. – Design Your Own Tangles! With inspiration from magazines, photos, and our surroundings, we will capture tangle patterns, name them anything we want, and incorporate them into a wondrous Zentangle tile. Carol Bailey Floyd, CZT $15.

12 – 1 p.m. – Bring your lunch, or join us for an Aladdin’s party tray – love offering.

1:15 p.m. – 3 p.m. – Tickle Me Pink! – A fun way to explore the application of Prisma color pencils with Bob Williams, graphic designer. He will demonstrate applying color, gradually enhancing Zentangles, on B&W Xerox photos, colorizing laser and inkjet prints. $20.

3:15 – 5 p.m. Decorate a Wine Glass Participants will receive a wine glass, a black painting pen and have access to other colors. Sparrow Kelley, CZT, will teach some new tangles for customizing a unique keepsake. $20.
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1 – 1:15 – Registration – Sunday, September 11

1:15 – 3:00 p.m. A Zentangle Fairyland - Create fun environments where fairies can play! You can decide if your fairies want color, sparklies, or a more traditional Zentangle approach! Carol Bailey Floyd, CZT $20.

3:15 – 5:00 – Zendala – A mandala is a sacred circle. Discover the fun of creating its relative the Zendala, with a surprisingly simple technique that produces dazzling results!
Estelle Goodnight, CZT $20.

CZT = Certified Zentangle Teacher - see zentangle.com to learn about Zentangles
Additional PARKING across from Walgreen’s – call 330 414-3505 to be buzzed in

205 - 212 Fun Things to Do!

205 - Get an ice cream cake for a birthday celebration!

206. Get an ice cream cake for no reason at all!

207. Walk barefoot in the grass.

208. Go to the library and borrow music you would usually not choose. Then have a little music festival while you are doing your chores!

209. Start accumulating a list of books you want to read, and then take it to the library and have them order what they don't have. A new stack of books is always fun!

210. Make a list of books as you read them, and start a rating system, or write a short review. Your family and friends will thank you!

211. Look at the negative space formed by clouds -- that blue sky around the clouds forms designs, too!


212. Check out the front ends of cars -- they are usually friendly or fierce! I heard of this when a college professor assigned this exercise to a photography class. This is my VW Beetle, Molly -- a very smiling and friendly car!

A Salute to Borders Books and Music

I have loved to read ever since forever. I worked in bookstores for 20 years -- over 12 of them at two different Borders in N.E. Ohio. First I worked at the Bookhound, a mystery bookstore, owned by my sister, Barbara Hiney, and after a brief stint at an advertising agency, returned to being a bookseller at Pickwick Books in Fairlawn. Unfortunately, Borders came to town, just a mile or so away, and that was soon the end of Pickwick. I am a fan of independent stores, and was really sad to witness the demise of Pickwick Books, but I also have to admit that being a booklover, I am thrilled when there are thousands of books in one huge place.

For a long time, Borders was very community oriented, with lots of activities in the store to appeal to children and adults. We had a program coordinator to keep things hopping. Local authors could be assured of signings, and placement of their books on our shelves. Borders was a second home to me, with family, friends, and people I hadn't seen for a long time popping up here and there to make my shifts more fun and interesting. My fellow employees were well-versed in books and music and had many areas of expertise that made them reliable sources of information and recommendations.

I just realized that this is a little like a fairy tale because Borders was the big bad wolf who came to town and killed Pickwick, and then Barnes and Noble came to town about 1/2 mile away and took about 30% of Borders' business right away! Then Borders opened a store in the neighboring community of Medina, and that took even more business away! Finally, Borders #63 had to let go all of their part-time employees -- and that meant I lost a job that meant the world to me. I had started working in the mental health field by then and traveling some, but I was still trying to hang in there with Borders. I landed a job with Borders in N. Canton for over 2 years before my other jobs became too time consuming.

Let me tell you what I loved about Borders. When I opened the door to Borders at the beginning of each shift, I never knew what to expect -- I knew I would get to have interesting conversations with not only the customers, but with my fellow employees. And I loved the enormous quantity of books, and knowing what was new, and being able to talk to people about books. We also had a large music department that kept me on my toes, musically speaking.

One day a man came in and was looking for a book of poetry. When he and his wife were courting, they used to go down by a river, and he would read to her from this book. She had just passed away, and was in the funeral home next door to Borders, and he wanted to put that book in her casket! We didn't have it and I was panic stricken. I called every book store in town, even the used ones, but I couldn't find it. Finally, I gave him a print-out of the information, which he carefully folded up and put in his pocket. He told me that he had gone on to make a lot of money, but when he proposed to her he could only afford to give her an engagement ring that he bought at the dime store. Later he bought her a magnificent diamond ring. In her later days, she would only wear the dime store ring.

There was one woman who came in once a week and bought a stack of books. She had taken a speed reading course, and it was always fun to see if I could come up with new ideas for her each week. One morning, one of our regular customers showed up with warm Krispy Kreme glazed donuts for the opening crew!

Another time, a volunteer from hospice came in and asked for some music that people could listen to as they passed. She said that one woman's husband used to be a violinist, and that this volunteer had played violin music for her as she was in her final days.

Not every day had incredible stories like that, but I never knew which one would. I did story hour there for many years, and loved to look out into the sea of children as I read wonderful, fun stories to them. Sometimes I dressed up as Winnie the Pooh, or Cat in the Hat or a Berenstain Bear -- the kids really believed I was those characters.

We used to have an art wall where local artists could have a chance to show their creations -- sometimes for the first time ever. I facilitated THE ARTIST'S WAY by Julia Cameron a lot of times, some writing groups, and other events there. The cafe was a great place for people to get together, or have some time by themselves. I know one man who did most of his studying for nursing school there and another who conducted a lot of his real estate business from the cafe.

I was so grateful to have the chance to work at Borders in N. Canton. It was a different environment because it was not in my neighborhood any more. My co-workers were terrific. One manager was a retired school teacher who studies Abraham Lincoln among other things. Another went on to teach art.


One time I was at the Philadelphia Airport, with an unexpectedly long layover, and there was a Borders store there to save the day -- just one book, a rocker, and I was a happily detained traveller. I was recently at the airport again, and I hoped to go to that Borders one more time (closing dates for all Borders are in September), but I was so sad to see the black curtain, with the Borders sign lit up in the background. It just seemed symbolic to me of the extreme sadness of the whole closing.

There are Borders employees who are hanging in to the very end to help get their stores closed up. They have been through a lot. Some of them were full-time once, but got their hours cut and lost their benefits. Many of my friends who worked at Borders never could even afford to have cars. A lot of Borders employees work there because they love books, music, and people. I send them best wishes and much gratitude as they look for new jobs and opportunities.

Goodbye, Borders Books and Music -- thanks for the memories.

201 - 204 Fun Things to Do!

201. Identify the trees in your neighborhood. Most of us got that assignment when we were little kids. We got tree identification books and roamed around looking at leaves and even making a notebook. I bet there are trees in your area that have been unnoticed by you. Go out and make friends with them!

202. Hug a tree! I know this is not for everyone, but there is something very comforting about hugging a tree. I love palm trees, but since they don't grow in Ohio when I get near them when I travel, I have to show my appreciation. If someone is with me to take a picture, all the better!

203. Make up a word. Sometimes we make up words by accident, and sometimes on purpose. I remember when I was dating my husband Tom how hard I laughed when he was ordering pizza and he told them he wanted to place a "gorder" -- that is a to go order. The other day my daughter was describing being all bunched up in bed, so she had to "uncrankle" herself to get up. I was driving down the street and saw an streak of a cloud in an arc, and thought of a "cloudbow".

204. Issue fun points. If you know someone who is having a rough time, or is feeling a little low, you can give them fun points. For example, if someone has just changed jobs and they are making the adjustment, you could give them 25 fun points to spend any way they want. They are in charge of how they spend their fun points -- it might be 3 points for going to a lecture at the library; 2 points for getting ice cream; 2 points for 1/2 hour of reading, etc.

205. Give yourself fun points! The other day I had a really tough meeting, so I gave myself 20 points. The first thing I did was head to the movies to spend 3 points, because that is one of my most fun and relaxing things to do. I was discussing the pros and cons of one movie over another with the manager of the movie theatre, and told him that I'd had a really bad afternoon. He said -- would your day be any better if you got a free movie ticket? So there I was in a fun movie, eating ice cream (2 more points), just a few hours after a crummy meeting, spending a few of my fun points with a much improved mood and attitude.

192 - 200 Fun Things to Do!

192. Do a week of surprises for someone! Someone I love is a school administrator who has to go back to school two weeks before her two children do, so I knew she would be feeling a little low. I surprised her with a week's worth of wrapped gifts -- one to open each day -- starting on Sunday with a book of quotations I had collected over the years. Each day's gift was numbered and wrapped differently and Thursday's gift was from her children. It was fun to think of this idea, fun to give to her, and I bet it was fun for her to have a little something fun to open up each day as she eased back into the more serious world of school administration!

193. When you're stuck in traffic, blow bubbles out of your car window. My friend Ruth told me that her daughters, Kylia and Kari used to love to do that and see people's reactions.


194. Get a fun tattoo! I will probably never get a tattoo, except a temporary one, but I sure have fun looking at other people's tattoos. Even the serious ones get my attention. If a person is willing to tell me any stories about their tattoos, I will listen until they are tired of talking. It's a meaningful decision to get a tattoo, but they don't all have to be serious! I was at a coffee shop in line behind a woman and just happened to look down, when I started laughing, she turned around and I just had to ask permission to take a photograph of her leg. When I went to my grandson Andrew's baseball picnic, little did I know that I would be able to add to my collection of fun tattoos when I noticed that one of the baseball Dads had a very humorous leg!


Hooray for fun tattoos!


195. Do a taste test! The other day, I was trying to decide which mustard to use with my hot dog, when I got an idea to try every kind we had in the refrigerator. I love love love mustard -- well, yellow mustard, not so much unless there are lots of raw onions with it and a great hot dog underneath. So I got out Grey Poupon - Dijon; Stadium mustard; Horseradish mustard, and Wasabi mustard. It was a really fun adventure to finally really compare them all in the same time period. There was a clear winner -- Grey Poupon -Dijon! Although, if you are at a baseball stadium with a crowd of people, and you get a great big hot dog there and slather it with Stadium mustard, then that's the very best (at the time). Dijon would be out of place at a baseball game! I also tried chocolate chip ice cream all over my county for a couple years at every opportunity until I found what I thought was the very best. It turned out to be the homemade chocolate chip ice cream at Mary Coyle's right in my neighborhood, where I used to work when I was in high school!


196. Dance with a child at a wedding! This is Erin, who was Maid of Honor at her sister Sara's wedding, out on the dance floor with a young dancer.

197. Watch children dancing. Any time you have a chance to watch a child or children dancing, stop everything else you are doing and appreciate the splendor!

198. Ask someone what they like to do for fun. It's a great conversation topic to find out what other people like to do for fun, and maybe they will give you some unusual ideas. They might also be interested in what you like to do for fun, too!

199. Call someone long distance. With unlimited calling plans, in some instances it's not quite the thrill it used to be to call someone long distance. It still is a lot of fun to talk to someone you don't get to see very often especially if you can surprise them with an unexpected call.


200. Take a photograph of a fun drink! Usually when I order lemonade, it might be good, but usually it is not unexpected. Imagine my delight when I got a carafe of fresh squeezed lemonade all to myself when I was on vacation. I just had to celebrate the occasion!

187 - 191 Fun Things to Do!

187 - Take photos of the beach at sunrise. When we were on vacation, I went to the beach early as often as possible with my journal and camera -- what a way to start a day! The memories of those mornings still invigorate me!

188 - Attend a conference -- any conference! I recently attended the WRAP Around the World Conference in Philadelphia. WRAP is Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAPandrecoverybooks.com), and it was incredible, with people from all over the world, lots of ideas, so much in common, fun, camaraderie, and so many new things to learn! No matter what your interests are, there is probably a conference for you! Scholarships are often available, so keep an eye out for conferences/conventions that might be of interest to you.


189 - Take photos of people from behind. Photographs of people from the back view are often quite interesting. I took this one of my son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren walking on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. It made me feel very tender and blessed.

190 - Pause and appreciate! I recently had to transfer all my files from a 6 year period from one computer to another. I transferred them to a flash drive first, in units of about 15 files and it took about 3 hours. In those 3 hours, I really had a chance to pause and appreciate the journal entries, invoices, research reports, PowerPoints, to do lists and the many other things that indicate some of my activities over the years. We all get so busy, it seems that we don't take the time to pause and appreciate our accomplishments as they are happening. I am going to try to remember to take a few moments here and there in the future to PA - pause and appreciate!


191 - Take kaleidoscope pictures! My friend Maria showed me a fun application for my iPhone (you could use it on your computer, too) called Kooleido. There are many things you can do with it, but what I did was use a picture of my dear friends Sara and Luke, who got married recently, and turn it into three different kaleidoscope pictures! I framed them in three attached frames for part of their wedding present. It was so fun to do and you can use any picture you have stored on your phone or computer, or you can take a picture on the spot. They also have backgrounds you can use. What a glorious and fun way to play with a photograph!

I appreciate any comments or ideas you might have -- just click on the word "comments" below. Thank you!